There is a new option for an activity in Melfort and the entire northeast as the Northeast Edge Fencing Club. The club was at the Community Connections and Registration Night at the Kerry Vickar Centre on Wednesday, September 4 to give the community exposure to the community.

The club was founded by Pamela Wojciechowski because her son Dylan has been fencing for about five years with a club in Prince Albert. They were growing tired of driving twice a week.

“It is a lot of gas money. It is one of the Saskatchewan Fencing Association’s initiatives to expand and get more people involved in fencing. So we decided what the heck we will just give it a shot. So we are here to show everybody what fencing is all about and have a lot of fun,” she explained.

According to Wojciechowski she received significant interest before the Community Connections night with 20 families expressing interest and six registrations.

“That’s what we are here to do is to get people involved and interested and learning more about fencing and seeing what we are all about,” Wojciechowski said.

People may not know what fencing is and that was another aspect of being at the Community Connections. They also put on demonstrations that night.

“It’s two opponents fencing either foil, epee or sabre, so there is different weapons and there is different rules for each weapon. And it’s all about beating your opponent, beating your prior bests for yourself. There is fencing all over the world,” she explained.

Dylan offered another explanation of what fencing was as he has been competing for five years.

“Fencing is basically where you are playing Chess while doing a sprint or a marathon. You move a lot and you have to outsmart your opponent and be more skilled then they are. So you have to out move them and be faster than them,” he said.

His love of fencing came from an interest in Medieval swordplay when he was younger. He explained that it was a natural progression to take up the sport.

“I took on the sport because Medieval stuff like sword fighting was just a big interest of mine. Basically when Mom said there was a sport called fencing and they have a club in P.A. I was like yeah that sounds interesting and I will try it,” he said.

The club also did a demonstration and try the sport night at MUCC on Thursday, September 5 with a second one on Thursday, September 12.

The club has two fencing masters John Brunning and Lynn Seguin acting as teachers.

“We have two fencing masters coming in from Saskatoon, they are the provincial coaches and they are excellent teachers,” she explained.

They will offer a learn to fence class for seven to 11-year-olds, recreational fencing for 12 to 15-year-olds, an adult class and a competitive fencing option. Classes are on Thursday evenings.